parental involvement in education

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Parental Involvement in Education By: Melissa Sawetch Introduction Question at Issue Educator’s nationwide share a common problem: the lack of active parental involvement in their child’s education. Educator’s believe that when a parent is actively involved in their child’s education the risk of the child developing habits such as low test scores, poor attendance, use of drugs or alcohol, dropping out of school, having violent behavior, etc. is considerably reduced. Parents recognize that they need to be involved to some extent in their child’s education; however, they don’t know how or where to start or how much of their involvement will really have an effect on their child. So, the question here is: what is the best way for schools’ and teachers to encourage parental involvement in a way that has a positive effect on all involved in the educational process? Viewpoints Before we attempt to answer our question of how to encourage parents to become more involved in the school, we need to address the differing viewpoints on this issue. In some instances, school districts nationwide implement a variety of parent-teacher programs with the same goal in mind, bringing the parent into the classroom. However, by the use of many forms of programs the ability to recognize one clear solution becomes difficult because not one district will employ the same programs to bring parents into the classroom. Another cause for concern among educators is what should be involved in achieving the level of participation that they desire for their students? This can differ from educator to educator because one educator may feel that take-home flyers sent home with the children every week, or a personal phone call once a month to discuss the students progress is enough; whereas, another educator may feel that it is their responsibility to ensure that parents have a more active role by

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